Peer-to-Peer Service Designer

ABSTRACT

A peer-to-peer communication system, including a service manager for managing peer-to-peer services, a zone manager for managing zones, each zone including at least one peer-to-peer service and a window display layout therefor, and a privacy manager for restricting access to a zone, to a select group of users. A method is also described and claimed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S.application Ser. No. 13/064,630 filed Apr. 5, 2011 which is acontinuation of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No.10/360,334 filed Feb. 10, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,945,618.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to peer-to-peer computing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Peer-to-peer computing enables users to snare computing resources andcontent, and to communicate with one other directly. Familiarpeer-to-peer services today are NetMeeting® of Microsoft Corporation(Redmond, Wash.), and Napster® of Napster, Inc. (Redwood City, Calif.).NetMeeting is used for text, voice and video chat between two users, andNapster is used for sharing music files.

Peer-to-peer computing eliminates the need to upload content andcommunicate through a central host web server, thereby saving time,effort and expense. Especially with the proliferation of mobilecomputing devices, such as PDAs, cell-phones, peer-to-peer computing isbecoming more and more prevalent, and more and more of a modusoperandus.

However, at its early stage of adoption today, peer-to-peer computingsuffers from (i) lack of an integrated development tool for building avariety of peer-to-peer services within a single application; (ii) lackof flexibility in managing multiple peer-to-peer services, each serviceintended for a different community of users; (iii) lack of privacy; and(iv) lack of richness in imagery.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and system for designing anddeploying peer-to-peer services. The present invention introduces theconcept of a “zone,” which is customizable to include one or morepeer-to-peer services, and which can be shared with designated users. Azone corresponds to a virtual space in which a community of users canchat, share photo albums, exchange files, send private e-mail, playgames, participate in a video conference, and otherwise communicatewithin a private, secure and controlled environment.

The present invention provides an integrated design and deployment toolthat supports an unlimited variety of peer-to-peer services within asingle architecture. The present invention overcomes many disadvantagesof central server architectures, whereby services are directed throughone or more host computers.

The present invention also provides a novel photo sharing service,whereby a user can share digital photo albums with a group of otherusers, without the need to upload them to a host web server, or to sendthem as e-mail attachments. The other users can interactively viewphotos within the shared albums, enjoying the full resolution of thephotos regardless of how many megapixels they include.

There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a peer-to-peer communication system, including aservice manager for managing peer-to-peer services, a zone manager formanaging zones, each zone including at least one peer-to-peer serviceand a window display layout therefor, and a privacy manager forrestricting access to a zone, to a select group of users.

There is additionally provided in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the present invention a peer-to-peer communication system, includinga zone builder for defining a zone including at least one peer-to-peerservice and a window display layout therefor, and a privacy manager forrestricting access to a zone, to a select group of users.

There is further provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention a peer-to-peer communication system, including auser manager for managing users and groups of users, and for identifyingusers who are currently on-line, a zone manager for managing zonesbelonging to users, each zone including at least one peer-to-peerservice and a window display layout therefor, a zone navigator foridentifying a zone belonging to a user who is on-line, and a serviceactivator for activating the at least one peer-to-peer service includedwithin the identified zone, and for displaying the at least onepeer-to-peer service according to the window layout therefor.

There is yet further provided in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the present invention a peer-to-peer communication system, includinga user manager for managing users and groups of users, and foridentifying users who are currently on-line, a zone manager for managingzones belonging to users, each zone including at least one peer-to-peerservice and a window display layout therefor, a privacy manager forrestricting access to a zone, to a select group of users, and a zonenavigator for identifying zones accessible to a given user, andbelonging to users who are currently on-line.

There is moreover provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention a peer-to-peer communication system, including auser manager for managing users and groups of users, and for identifyingusers who are currently on-line, a zone manager for managing zonesbelonging to users, each zone including at least one peer-to-peerservice and a window display layout therefor, a privacy manager forrestricting access to a zone, to a select group of users, and a zonenavigator for identifying zones accessible to a given user, andbelonging to users who are currently on-line.

There is additionally provided in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the present invention a peer-to-peer communication system, includinga service manager for managing peer-to-peer services, a zone builder fordefining a zone including at least one peer-to-peer service and a windowdisplay layout therefor, and a zone activator for activating the atleast one peer-to-peer service within a zone, and for displaying the atleast one peer-to-peer service according to the window layout therefor.

There is further provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention a method for peer-to-peer communication, includingidentifying a user who is currently on-line, identifying a zonebelonging to the user who is currently on-line, the zone including atleast one peer-to-peer service and a window display layout therefor,activating the at least one peer-to-peer service within the identifiedzone, and displaying the at least one peer-to-peer service according tothe window layout therefor.

There is yet further provided in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the present invention a method for peer-to-peer communication,including selecting at least one peer-to-peer service, generating a zoneincluding the selected at least one peer-to-peer service and a windowdisplay layout therefor, activating the at least one peer-to-peerservice within the identified zone, and displaying the at least onepeer-to-peer service according to the window layout therefor.

There is moreover provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention a method for peer-to-peer communication, includingselecting at least one peer-to-peer service, generating a zone includingthe selected at least one peer-to-peer service and a window displaylayout therefor, selecting at least one user, and restricting access tothe generated zone, to the at least one user.

There is additionally provided in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the present invention a method for peer-to-peer communication,including managing a plurality of users, associating to each individualuser, a group of users from among the plurality of users, designated asfriends of the individual user, further associating to each individualuser, at least one zone belonging to the individual user, each such zoneincluding at least one peer-to-peer service and a window display layouttherefor, and associating to each zone belonging to each individualuser, a group of users from among the friends of the individual user,entitled to access the zone.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be more fully understood and appreciated fromthe following detailed description, taken in conjunction with thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a peer-to-peer designer, inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an interface for enabling a user to designpeer-to-peer zones, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a window including a zone designed by auser, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a user interlace display for creating adigital photo album, for sharing within a peer-to-peer photo sharingservice, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a user interface window for restrictingaccess to a zone to designated users, in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a window displaying a zone being operatedlive by a user who has been granted access thereto, in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a live content display interface,indicating to a user which of his friends are on-line, and which zonesof theirs he may access, in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention concerns peer-to-peer services for communities ofusers. Such services include inter alia chat services, file sharing andphoto sharing services, and video conferencing services. In a preferredembodiment, a user of the present invention selects other users of thepresent invention with whom he wishes to participate, such other usersbeing referred to herein as the user's “friends.” Whenever one of thetwo mutual friends is using the present invention on-line, he isnotified when the other friend is also on-line, and is able to includethe other friend in services he generates.

Specifically, the present invention enables a user to create one or more“zones,” a zone denoting one or more peer-to-peer services laid outgraphically within a container window. For example, a zone may include aphoto-sharing service, for sharing designated digital photo albums, anda file sharing service for exchanging designated files. Zones can bedesigned arbitrarily, and represent a customized “space” whereinparticipating users can communicate and share information. Thus it maybe appreciated that associated with each user of the present inventionis his group of “friends,” and his one or more zones.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, foreach zone of his, a user may designate which other users can have accessto the zone. Thus a user may restrict access to a zone to one or morespecific users, to members of his family, to a special interest group,or to such other group of users of the present invention. For example, auser may create a first zone for sharing home photos with members of hisfamily, and a second zone for sharing files with colleagues, and a thirdzone for chatting with fellow football fans. It may thus be appreciatedthat the present invention provides for an unlimited variety of zonesfor different sharing scenarios.

Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which is a simplified block diagram ofa peer-to-peer designer, in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention. Shown in FIG. 1 are client computers 110, 120 and130, including respective volatile random access memories 111, 121 and131, and respective permanent memories 112, 122 and 132 storingrespective local file systems. Each client computer includespeer-to-peer client software 140, in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

Also shown in FIG. 1 is a re-direct server computer 150, including twodatabases—a user database 151 and an ad banner database 152. Re-directserver computer includes peer-to-peer server software 160. In accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the present invention, user database 151maintains identifying information about each authorized user of thesystem of the present invention, and includes an IP address for eachsuch user. For a user with dynamically generated IP addresses, userdatabase 151 preferably is updated each time such user logs on to thesystem.

When client computer is connected to the Internet, and a user of clientcomputer 110 runs client software 140, client computer 110 initiallycommunicates with re-direct server computer 150 along networkcommunication lines designated generically by 171, and logs on to thesystem, for example, by entering a userID and corresponding password.Based on user database 151, peer-to-peer server software 160authenticates the user, identifies his client computer's IP address,updates user database 151 accordingly as necessary, and proceeds tore-direct client computer 110 so that it communicates directly withclient, computers 120 and 130 of friends of the user who are on-line,along network communication lines designated generically by 181 and 182.

Also shown in FIG. 1 is an advertising server 190 including a permanentmemory 191 storing advertising banners. In accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention, peer-to-peer client software 140streams advertising banners within its user interface display, based onan ad banner URL. Such ad banner URL is updated from time to time bypeer-to-peer server software 160, based on ad banner database 152. Itmay thus be appreciated by those skilled in the art that ad banners maybe targeted to specific groups of users as appropriate.

It may be appreciated that client computers 110, 120 and 130, re-directserver computer 150 and advertising server computer 190 include severalstandard components not illustrated in FIG. 1, including inter aliacentral processors, device drivers, communication hardware and software,RAM within re-direct server computer 150 and advertising server computer190, and peripheral devices for input/output and display. For the sakeof clarity in describing the present invention, only a small set ofcomponents are included in FIG. 1.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which is an illustration of aninterface for enabling a user to design peer-to-peer zones, inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Shownin FIG. 2 is a user interface window 210 including a left pane 220displaying a list of peer-to-peer services, and including a right pane230 displaying a list of existing zones belonging to the user.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, pane 220 includes a peer-to-peer file sharingservice 221, a peer-to-peer group text chat service 222, an HTML layoutservice 223, an image layout service 224, a Jotto game service 225, anda photo service 226. When the user creates a new zone, one or morepeer-to-peer services listed in pane 220 may be inserted into the zone,and positioned and sized at will. As can also be seen in FIG. 2, pane230 displays one existing zone 231 belonging to the user.

Shown at the right of window 210 are a button control 241 for creating anew zone, a button control 242 for opening an existing zone, a buttoncontrol 243 for renaming an existing zone, a button control 244 forremoving a control, a button 245 for designating with which users anexisting zone is to be shared, and a button 246 for setting propertiesof a existing zone.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which is an illustration of a window310 including a zone 320 designed by a user, in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention. Zone 320 may correspondto the user's zone 231 (FIG. 2). Preferably, window 310 is displayed inresponse to creation of a new zone or modification of an existing zone,for example, in response to a user clicking on control button 241 orcontrol button 242 (FIG. 2).

As shown in FIG. 3, zone 320 includes a peer-to-peer photo sharingservice 330. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, peer-to-peer photo sharing service 330 is included withinzone 320 by dragging photo service 226 service from within pane 220 intodropping it into the zone 320 display area. After being inserted,peer-to-peer photo sharing service 330 can be positioned and sizedwithin zone 320 at will, using standard Windows positioning and sizingfunctionalities.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which is an illustration of a userinterface display for creating a digital photo album, for sharing withinpeer-to-peer photo sharing service 330 (FIG. 3), in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention. Shown in FIG. 4 is awindow 410 including a left pane 420, with an explorer-type directorybrowser for selecting a directory within client computer file system 112(FIG. 1). Preferably, window 410 is displayed in response to settingproperties for a zone, for example, in response to a user clicking oncontrol button 246 (FIG. 2).

Also show in FIG. 4 is a middle pane 430, displaying smallrepresentations of images (referred to herein as “thumbnails”) within adirectory selected in pane 420, and a right pane 440, displayingthumbnails of images included within a designated user photo album.Individual thumbnails in pane 430 are designated generically by 431, andindividual thumbnails within pane 440 are designated genetically by 441.Each thumbnail represents an image file within file system 112, andpreferably corresponds to a low resolution version of the image itrepresents. Preferably, thumbnails can be enlarged and reduced at will,in response to a user clicking on control icons 451 and 452,respectively. Preferably, thumbnails from pane 430 are dragged anddropped into the right pane 440, for inclusion within a photo albumnamed “My Album.” Thumbnails of images from several directories can bedropped into pane 440, collectively generating a photo album to beshared through photo service 330.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, adata structure for a photo album includes links to the various imagefiles, rather than copies of the image files themselves, thus obviatingthe need to use significant amounts of additional memory within clientcomputer 110. It may thus be appreciated that the present inventionovercomes disadvantages of conventional photo sharing by uploadingphotos to a host server computer.

Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which is an illustration of a userinterface window 510 for restricting access to zone 320 (FIG. 3) todesignated users, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention. Preferably, window 510 is displayed in response todesignating access for a zone, for example, in response to a userclicking on control button 245 (FIG. 2). As shown in FIG. 5, window 510includes a left pane 520 displaying a list of zones belonging to a user,and a right pane 530 displaying a list of users of the system of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 5, access to zone 231 can berestricted to a designated group of users.

Reference is now made to FIG. 6, which is an illustration of a window610 displaying zone 320 (FIG. 3) being operated live by a user who hasbeen granted access thereto, in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the present invention. Window 610 includes a left pane 620 displayingpeer-to-peer photo sharing service 330, and a right pane 630 displayingthumbnails 441 (FIG. 4) representing images within the shared photoalbum named “My Album.”

As shown in FIG. 6, peer-to-peer photo sharing service 330 includes aviewer 640 for displaying selected images from the shared photo album.Preferably, a user drags and drops a thumbnail 441 from pane 630 into adisplay area of zone 320 within pane 620, in response to which viewer640 displays the corresponding image. In accordance with a preferredembodiment of the preset invention, viewer 640 is an interactive viewer,including control buttons 641, 642, 643, 644 and 645 for panning,zooming in (i.e., enlarging), zooming out (i.e., reducing), zooming inon a rectangular portion, and resetting to an initial view,respectively. It may thus be appreciated that the present inventionenables viewing of high resolution images, such as multi-megapixelimages typical today of images captured by digital cameras and imagesscanned from photographs.

Reference is now made to FIG. 7, which is an illustration of a livecontent display interface, indicating to a user which of his friends areon-line, and which zones of theirs he may access, in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention. Shown in FIG. 7 is awindow 710 including a pane 720 for identifying users of the system ofthe present invention, designated generically by 721, for identifyingfriends of a user, and for notifying a user of other users that arecurrently on-line. Also shown in FIG. 7 are control buttons, designatedgenerally by 730, for adding and removing friends. Also shown in FIG. 7is a right pane 740 displaying a list of zones belonging to users of thesystem, such as peer-to-peer photo sharing zone 741, to which a user hasaccess rights.

In reading the above description, persons skilled in the art willrealize that there are many apparent variations that can be applied tothe methods and systems described.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however,be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to thespecific exemplary embodiments without departing from the broader spiritand scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of sharing in a peer-to-peercommunication system, wherein the peer-to-peer communication systemincludes a server and a plurality of client devices interconnected via acommunications network, the method comprising: registering individualusers with the server; storing, by the server, a user ID and passwordtor each of the registered users; selecting, by a given individual user,a group of one or more other users, to be designated as friends;arbitrarily defining, by said given individual user, a plurality ofzones, said arbitrarily defining comprising: selecting, by the givenindividual user, a name tor each of the plurality of zones, presentingto the given individual user a listing of a plurality of functionallydifferent peer-to-peer services, the listing including interactivepeer-to-peer services, selecting, by the given individual user, one ormore functionally different peer-to-peer communication services from thepresented listing of functionally different peer-to-peer services, andselecting, from the list of friends of the given individual user, one ormore other users allowed to have access to each of the plurality ofzones, wherein each of the selected name, selected peer-to-peerservices, and allowed users are maintained as a definition for the zone;concurrently activating, for another individual user, one or moredefined zones for which the other individual user is authorized toaccess; activating, for each activated defined zone, the one or morepeer-to-peer communications services selected for the activated definedzone; restricting access to each defined zone to the selected usersallowed to have access to the defined zone; and maintaining thedefinition of each zone, even when the zone is not active.
 2. Apeer-to-peer communication method according to claim 1, wherein thepeer-to-peer services includes a file exchange service, a photo sharingservice, a video conference service, and a private e-mail service.
 3. Apeer-to-peer communication system according to claim 2, wherein theindividual user sets properties for each zone by pre-designating thedata to be utilized by the at least one peer-to-peer service associatedwith the zone.
 4. A peer-to-peer communication system, comprising: auser manager tor managing users and groups of users, and for identifyingusers who are currently on-line; a zone manager for managing zonesbelonging to users, each zone including at least one peer-to-peerservice and a window display layout therefor; a privacy manager torrestricting access to a zone, to a select group of users; a zonenavigator for identifying zones accessible to a given user, andbelonging to users who are currently on-line; and a service activatorfor activating the at least one peer-to-peer service included within theidentified zone, and for displaying the at least one peer-to-peerservice according to the window layout therefor